Fighter
by Wish Porter
Summary: The day Squall learns how to junction Shiva is the day his world changes. She's powerful, they can make each other stronger. And she knew his mother. That day, he makes her a promise. He'll do everything he can to help her and any other GF in a world where Guardians are used like tools. M/M, F/M, Sorceress!Squall


My first FFVIII fic!

I'm pretty excited about it, actually. I'll update when I can. I'm posting this now to see what you think of the idea, and maybe get some pairing ideas. Het, slash, and femslash suggestions are welcome.

My idea was inspired heavily by Batsutousai's Silver Wings, Noblesse Oblige, and Zyxt.

Also, I'm taking some creative liberties with the GFs. Squall's Shiva is a mixture of the Shiva from Final Fantasy VIII, IX, and X.

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><p>Squall headed into the classroom with Seifer at his side. Even the usually loud, obnoxious boy was quiet. They'd been temporarily roomed together, and Squall found he was grateful. First Sis had left him, then that man and the scary woman had appeared, then he'd seen the rest of his friends adopted. Quistis, Irvine, Selphie, Zell. Eventually, the only constants in his life were Matron, the orphanage, and Seifer. Then they were taken from Matron and the orphanage, and brought to Garden. Matron had explained that she needed to go away for a while, so he and Seifer would go learn at Garden. At Balamb Garden, away from anything familiar, Squall and Seifer had set aside their differences for the sake of companionship. Squall was secretly grateful that he was sharing a room with the older boy. He glanced over at his blond roommate anxiously. So far, they'd just been settling in, but today their new lives as cadets started with their first class, junctioning.<p>

As he stood in line with the others, he wondered what the class would be about. The others were fairly self-explanatory. Mathematics, reading and writing, survival, hunting and gathering, natural resources, politics, diplomacy, geography, basic combat, battle combat, battle magic, support magic, defensive combat, and offensive weaponry. Then there was junctioning. Even the course description summarized the course as an introduction to junctioning.

At this point, he was shaken from his thoughts as his turn came.

"Cadet Leonhart." That was his name now.

He stepped up to the instructor's desk and held out his hand to take the provided crystal. He shivered as he headed back to his assigned desk, which was a double he'd share with Seifer.

When everyone was seated with a blue crystal, the instructor finally spoke. "Welcome class, to junctioning."

Squall narrowed his eyes at the woman's patronizing tone. He understood that they were all young –he was only five years old- but he didn't like being treated like a baby. When he glanced to his side, he could tell that Seifer didn't like it either from the look on his face.

"In this class we will focus on junctioning and learning about GFs. Does anybody have any questions?"

He looked around at the other kids in the class. He was pretty quiet and didn't like to draw attention to himself, but it didn't seem like anyone else was going to ask. He stood and waited to be called on.

"Cadet…"

"Leonhart, instructor. I haven't been able to figure out what junctioning is, exactly."

The woman actually clapped her hands. "What an excellent question!"

Squall just raised an eyebrow but couldn't hide his grin when he heard Seifer's disgusted snort.

"The junction system is a new technology for those of us outside Esthar. It was designed and developed by a scientist there. It's a technology and skill system that allows the user to replicate the powers of a sorceress. It's partially technology, partially mental, so the more you use and understand the system, the more useful it will be."

Beside him, Seifer stood but didn't wait to be called on. "What's the point of it?"

The instructor frowned. "Please wait to be called on, Cadet…" She trailed off but Seifer didn't offer his name. She pretended not to notice and answered the question. "As I said, he system gives us artificial sorceress powers, essentially. With it, you can store and control para-magic and GFs. You can store up to 32 spells at a time, and stock up to 100 of each. You'll go further into that in your magic classes. By junctioning GF's and magic, you are able to increase your strength, speed, and use magic. Now, onto GFs. A Guardian Force is an independent energy force. When you combine a GF with para-magic using the junctioning system, you can control their tremendous energy. They appear to us as crystals, like all of you have. The GF you will get to know in this class is Shiva."

The class stared at her and Seifer rolled his eyes. Squall sighed when Seifer elbowed him with a disbelieving glance. They'd both spent enough time with Quisty to know what an instruction manual sounded like. He bet this instructor didn't know a whole lot about GFs.

"Now, when you all arrived here, there was a small device implanted in the back of your non-dominant hand; not the hand you write with." She clarified. "That was the junctioning system. If you lay your crystal in the palm of your hand and imagine it sinking into your hand, you'll be able to junction Shiva."

Squall switched the crystal into his left hand and held it up at eye level, hand flat. He concentrated on the crystal and imagined what it would look like sinking into his hand. He watched it with wide eyes when it slowly started to sink in. He shivered violently for a few seconds when it disappeared. It felt like someone had dropped ice down the back of his shirt. He felt a sort of …amusement in the back of his mind. But…he didn't feel amused. There was a light, tinkling laugh. He heard it again but this time he recognized that it was in his head. What if…

He closed his eyes.

He opened his eyes and all he could see was snow and ice.

"Salutations, Ice Child."

Squall spun and fell after slipping on the ice. He looked up at the woman from his place on the ground. She was beautiful. Her skin was a pale blue colour. Her feet and hands were a darker shade, and Squall noticed similarly coloured ice formations on her forearms, calves, and thighs. He also noticed with no small relief that some sort of translucent ice armour shielded her modesty, but she was otherwise bare. Her blonde hair was longer in the front, had different shades of blue in it, and was swept out of her face. As his gaze continued up her body, he saw thick ice of a lighter colour on her upper arms, and transparent fragments surrounded her left eye in a starburst. Her lips were a light shade of purple and her eyes were the same shade of blue as her fingertips. In her hair, barely noticeable, was a black headband.

"I am Shiva. You will be my summoner?"

He hesitated. "Would you help me?"

She laughed. "Child, that depends on you. My strengths depend on your strengths and personality. If you are skilled with ice magic, I will be stronger than if I were to be summoned by someone who is not. Although, you have certain attributes I value, so I will be strong regardless." She looked at him for a moment longer. "Now, you will be my summoner?"

The young boy nodded at the breathtaking woman slowly. "Y-yes, I'm-"

"Squall Leonhart, I am aware of who you are. I knew your mother, Raine."

With those words, Squall felt the world fall away.

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><p>So that's it for the first chapter, just a taste.<p>

Thoughts?

Wish Porter


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